Former ST Marine execs face additional corruption charges

JANUARY 13, 2016 — Three former senior executives of Singapore Techology Engineering's shipbuilding unit, Singapore Technogies Marine Ltd, were back in court today to face a total of 1,774 more charges in a corruption case first disclosed back to 2011.

The charges against the the three relate to relate to S$6.5 million (US$4.53 million) in fraudulent expenses claims.

According to Channel News Asia, the three allegedly made thousands of false entries in ST Marine petty cash vouchers relating to more than S$6.5 million in entertainment expenses, expenses which were not actually incurred.

In a statement today, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd said:

On 12 September 2011, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd ("ST Engineering") announced that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau ("CPIB") was investigating certain transactions involving former and current employees of Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd ("ST Marine"). ST Marine has been extending its fullest cooperation to the CPIB in its investigation since 2011.

We also refer to our announcements on 11 December 2014, 30 December 2014, 10 June 2015 and 1 July 2015 in relation to the criminal prosecution of former employees of ST Marine.

We wish to announce that on 13 January 2016, three former employees of ST Marine, Han Yew Kwang ("Han"), Tan Mong Seng ("Tan") and Mok Kim Whang ("Mok") were charged in the State Courts of Singapore.

Han was the Chief Operating Officer of ST Marine from June 2002 to June 2007, before leaving in June 2014 as Executive Vice President (Shipbuilding). Han was previously charged on 1 July 2015 with eight (8) charges under section 6(b) read with section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Han was charged on 13 January 2016 with 473 charges under section 477A of the Penal Code.

Tan was President (Commercial Business) of ST Marine from January 2000, before leaving in June 2002 as Chief Operating Officer/President (Commercial Business) of ST Marine. Tan was previously charged on 1 July 2015 with one (1) charge under section 6(b) read with section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Tan was charged on 13 January 2016 with 445 charges under section 477A of the Penal Code.

Mok was the Senior Vice President (Tuas Yard) of ST Marine from 1 June 2000 to 31 July2004. Mok was previously charged on 11 December 2014 with one (1) charge under section 6(b) read with section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Mok was charged on 13 January 2016 with 826 charges under section 477A of the Penal Code.

The additional charges against Han, Tan and Mok are not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets or consolidated earnings per share of the ST Engineering Group for the current financial year.

ST Engineering is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and recognises that fraud is detrimental to the reputation of the ST Engineering Group.

ST Engineering does not condone fraud, including corruption and bribery, and is fully committed to proactively mitigating the risk of its occurrence.

ST Engineering will make timely further announcements, if necessary.

In July last year, notes Channel News Asia, former ST Marine Group Financial Controller Patrick Lee Swee Ching, 58, was fined S$210,000 for falsifying accounts to cover up alleged corrupt payments made by his superiors, disguised as entertainment expenses. Two other former ST Marine employees, Group Financial Controller Ong Teck Liam and President See Leong Teck, as well as ST Aerospace President Chang Cheow Teck have also been charged. Their cases are still before the courts.